Six-party talks: Map

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The six-party talks aim to find a peaceful
resolution to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear
weapons program.There has been a series of meetings with six
participating states: the People's Republic of China; the Republic of
Korea (South Korea); the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (North Korea); the United States of
America; the Russian Federation; and Japan.
These talks were a result of North Korea withdrawing from the
Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003. Apparent gains
following the fourth and fifth rounds were reversed by outside
events. Five rounds of talks from 2003 to 2007 produced little net
progress until the third phase of the fifth round of talks, when
North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear facilities in exchange
for fuel aid and steps towards the normalization of relations with
the United States and Japan. Responding angrily to the United Nations Security
Council's unanimous decision on April 13, 2009 to condemn North
Korea over its April 5, 2009 failed satellite launch, North
Korea declared on April 14, 2009 that it would pull out of the
six-party talks for good and that they would resume their nuclear
enrichment program. North Korea has also expelled all nuclear
inspectors from the country.

Peaceful use of nuclear energy - whilst the
NPT allows states the right to use nuclear energy for civilian
purposes, this is thought to have been used by North Korea as a
cover for their nuclear weapons program.

Diplomatic relations - North Korea wants
normalization of diplomatic relations as part of the bargain for
giving up its nuclear weapons program. The U.S. has at times
disagreed and at times agreed to this condition, providing North
Korea irreversibly and verifiably disarms its nuclear weapons
program.

Financial restrictions / Trade normalization -
The U.S. has placed heavy financial sanctions on North Korea for
what they see as an uncooperative attitude and unwillingness to
dismantle its nuclear weapons program. In addition, other parties
such as China had taken actions such as the freezing of North
Korean assets in foreign bank accounts, such as the US$24 million
in Macau's Banco Delta Asia. With the nuclear test on October 9,
2006, UNSCR 1718 was passed, which included a ban on all luxury
goods to North Korea. These funds have since been unfrozen by the
US on March 19, 2007 to reciprocate actions by their North Korean
counterparts.

Verifiable and Irreversible disarmament -
Members of the six-party talks have disagreed on this. Japan and
the U.S. have demanded that North Korea completely dismantle its
nuclear program so that it may never be restarted, and that it can
be verified by the six members of the talks before aid is given.
South Korea, China and Russia have agreed on a milder, step-by-step
solution which involves the members of the six-party talks giving a
certain reward (e.g. aid) in return for each step of nuclear
disarmament. North Korea has wanted the U.S. to concede some of the
conditions first before it will take any action in disarming their
weapons program, which they see as the only guarantee to prevent a
U.S. attack on their soil.

Joint Statement issued with six points. This is essentially the
same as the previous round's statements, except for:

Modifying the 'words for words' and 'actions for actions'
principle to 'commitment for commitment, action for action'
principle.

No agreement on when the next talks will be held, though March
2006 looked likely at the time.

Events between phases 1 and 2

In
April 2006, North Korea offered to resume talks if the U.S.
releases recently frozen North Korean financial assets held in a
bank in Macau.[147297]

The U.S. treats the nuclear and financial issues as separate;
North Korea does not.

North Korea then announced on October 3, 2006, that it was
going to test its first nuclear weapon regardless of the world
situation, blaming 'hostile U.S. policy' as the reason for the need
for such a deterrent. However, it pledged a no-first-strike policy
and to nuclear disarmament only when there is worldwide elimination
of such nuclear weapons [147298]. For North Korea's full text, read
this.

In response, the United Nations Security
Council passed Resolution
1718 unanimously condemning North Korea, as well as passing
Chapter VII, Article 41. Sanctions ranged from the economic to the
trade of military units, WMD-related parts and technology
transfer, and a ban on certain luxury goods. Both the People's
Republic of China and the Russian Federation were quick to stress that these were not
military-enforceable sanctions.The Resolution also
gave the right to other nations to inspect any North Korean
vessel's cargo, although the People's Republic of China has held reservations about this move, saying it
wanted to avoid any military confrontation with North Korea's
navy.

On 31 October 2006, the Chinese government announced that
six-party talks would resume. U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill later stated that the
resumption could happen in the next month and that North Korea had
not set preconditions for the talks. The deadlock was broken by
what BBC News called "frantic
behind-the-scenes negotiations" by Beijing. However, Japan's
Foreign Minister Taro Aso stated that his
country was not willing to return to the six-party talks until
North Korea had renounced nuclear weapons.

On 5 December 2006, the Russian envoy and former chief Russian
negotiator for the six-party talks Alexander Alexeyev said that the
talks were unlikely to resume before 2007 owing to the slow
progress towards the talks and the fact that Christmas was coming
up soon.

On 10 December, it became apparent
that talks would resume on 18 December 2006.

All six parties reaffirm their commitment to the Joint
Statement made on 19 September 2005 in an 'action for action'
manner.

All six parties reaffirmed their positions, some of whose
positions have differed greatly since the last time the parties
met.

Numerous bilateral talks were held, especially the Sunday
before the talks (Dec 17, 2006) and on the third and fourth days of
negotiations.

Separate bilateral talks were made concerning the freezing of
overseas North Korean financial assets between the U.S. delegation
led by the U.S. Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist
Financing and Financial Crimes, Daniel Glaser, and the North Korean
delegation led by the President of the DPRK's Foreign Trade Bank, O
Kwang Chol. These talks ended without consensus on a stance, but
both delegations agreed to meet again in New York in January
2007.

The 5th round only went into "recess" on Dec 22, 2006,
indicating that the round was not over yet. China's chief six-party
talks negotiator Wu Dawei stated on January 8, 2007 that working
talks concerning the financial sanctions were likely to resume on
January 21-22, 2007 in New York, with the main six-party talks
likely to resume soon after in Beijing.

Events between phases 2 and 3

Russia's ex-chief negotiator for the six-party talks Alexander
Losyukov has taken over from Sergei Razov as the new chief
negotiator. Losyukov was previously the Russian ambassador to
Tokyo, appointed immediately after the second round of the
six-party talks in March 2004.

On 26 January 2007, Russian chief negotiator Alexander Losyukov
told reporters that the third phase was most likely to resume
sometime in late January or early February 2007, most likely 5
February - 8 February 2007. Apparently the North Korean delegation
wants to resume these talks on 8 February 2007. The dates were
chosen to take place before the Lunar New Year, which commences in
mid-February in 2007. This has been supported by the PRC and ROK
delegations.

Both Kim Kye-gwan for North Korea and Christopher Hill for the
U.S. made positive remarks about the progress of in-between-rounds
one-to-one talks held from Tuesday 16 January 2007 to Thursday 18
January 2007 in Berlin, Germany, pointing to "certain agreements"
being reached. They met for six hours on Tuesday and one and a half
hours on Wednesday. North Korea has viewed these talks as the
"bilateral negotiations" it has wanted with the U.S. for a long
time, whereas the U.S. refers to it as talks in "preparation for
the six-party talks".

U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser is due
to hold talks with his North Korean counterpart, O Kwang Chol, in
Beijing, China, on Tuesday 30 January 2007 regarding partial
lifting of financial sanctions, thought to be around US$13 million
of the US$24 million frozen in Macau's Banco Delta Asia.

China has confirmed on Tuesday 30 January 2007 that the third
phase of talks will commence on 8 February 2007.

North Korea was reported to agree to freeze their nuclear
program in exchange for 500,000 tons of fuel oil a year, similar to
the 1994 Agreed Framework just
before the third phase of talks started after a pre-talk one-on-one
meeting between Kim and Hill. There were rumors that a U.S.-North
Korean memorandum of understanding had been signed before this
phase, although this was denied by U.S. Chief Representative
Christopher Hill.

North Korea will shut down and seal the Yongbyon nuclear
facility, including the reprocessing facility and invite back IAEA
personnel to conduct all necessary monitoring and
verifications

In return, the other five parties in the six-party talks will
provide emergency energy assistance to North Korea in the initial
phase of 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil, to commence within 60
days.

All six parties agree to take positive steps to increase mutual
trust, and make joint efforts for lasting peace and stability in
Northeast Asia. Directly related parties will negotiate a permanent
peace regime on the Korean Peninsula at an appropriate separate
forum.

All six parties agree on establishing five working groups - on
the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, normalization of
North Korea-U.S. relations, normalization of North Korea-Japan
relations, economy and energy cooperation, as well as a joint
Northeast Asia peace and security mechanism.

The working groups will form specific plans for implementing
the September 19 statement in their respective areas.

All parties agree that all working groups will meet within the
next 30 days

Details of assistance will be determined through consultations
and appropriate assessments in the working group on economic and
energy cooperation.

Once the initial actions are implemented, the six parties will
promptly hold a ministerial meeting to confirm implementation of
the joint document and explore ways and means for promoting
security cooperation in Northeast Asia.

The sixth round of six-party talks will take place on March 19,
2007. This will be to hear reports of the working groups and
discuss actions for the next phase.

Events during the 5th round, 3rd phase of talks

China drew up a plan that was presented on Friday, 9 February
2007, building on the September 2005 agreement. It proposes that
the Yongbyon 5MW(e) nuclear reactor be "suspended, shut down and
sealed" within two months in exchange for energy supplies and
economic aid by the other five countries to North Korea. It also
proposed to establish "four to six" working groups on each of the
outstanding issues not agreed on. Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso
was reported to applaud the draft, hailing it as a breakthrough.
However, Japanese chief representative Sasae Kenichiro and U.S.
chief representative Christopher Hill were much more cautious,
saying it was just a first step in a long process, but at least
there was agreement by all parties on the fundamental points. North
Korean chief representative Kim Kye-gwan said North Korea was
"prepared to discuss initial denuclearization steps" but was
"neither optimistic nor pessimistic because there are still a lot
of problems to be resolved"

China held one-on-one talks with each of the other five
countries on Sunday 11 February 2007. The six countries' chief
negotiators then had an hour-long meeting together in the
afternoon. They did not announce any end date for this phase of
talks after the meeting.

China's plan has run into some difficulties regarding the steps
North Korea will take to denuclearize in exchange for aid. The
Japanese chief representative claimed North Korea was demanding too
much compensation in return for denuclearization. South Korea's
chief representative Chun Yung-woo said it was "unreasonable" to
expect a breakthrough on Sunday 11 February 2007. Russia's chief
representative Losyukov said that the chances of reaching a
two-page joint statement are slim, and if this does not work out, a
Chairman's Statement will be issued.

On February 13, 2007, Christopher Hill announced that a
tentative deal had been reached between the negotiators, and a
"final text" was being circulated to the governments of the six
parties for approval. Even before the deal had been approved, it
was criticized by John Bolton, former
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who said that it sent
"exactly the wrong signal to would-be proliferators around the
world".

The Chairman's Statement adopted on February 13, 2007 was the
result of 16 hours of grueling negotiations, finalized only at 2
a.m. on February 13, 2007. This was circulated to all six parties,
and agreed on at around 3 p.m. that same day.

On March 19, 2007, the US Chief Negotiator Christopher Hill
announced that all of the $25 million in funds belonging to the
North Koreans in Banco Delta Asia that were frozen before were
being unfrozen to reciprocate the positive steps the North Koreans
have taken towards freezing their Yongbyon nuclear reactor and
readmitting IAEA inspectors, with a future goal towards total
nuclear disarmament of the Korean peninsula. However, this issue
was only put on the agenda on the morning of the talks instead of
before hand, so the financial transaction ran into some problems in
terms of time and being cleared (by the Bank of China) for the
North Koreans. The North Koreans, led by Kim Kye-gwan, refused to
negotiate further until they received their money. The Americans
(Christopher Hill, not Daniel Glaser) denied responsibility for the
delay, citing it as a "Chinese matter". The Chinese (Wu Dawei) in
turn said "there wasn't enough time to accomplish the transaction".
The Bank of China has been hesitant to accept the money as Banco
Delta Asia has not been removed from the US' blacklist despite
having the funds in question unfrozen. Nevertheless, none of the
five other parties see this financial issue as posing any
obstruction to the talks. "The resolution of the BDA issue is a
question of time, not a question of political will,", Chun
Yung-woo, the South Korean Chief Negotiator, said. The talks have
been put on recess at the end of the fourth day of talks after
progress was not possible after the second day.

The US has also admitted that this freezing of funds was a
bargaining chip used to pressure North Korea to dismantle.

The talks were abandoned as North Korea refused to proceed
without receiving the $25 million in their hands.

A South Korean newspaper reported that North Korea had taken
steps to shut their Yongbyon 5MW(e) reactor though.

Events taken place between halt and resumption of 1st phase
of the 6th round of talks

The 60-day deadline was obviously not met because of the above,
though none of the six parties made much of a hassle about it. The
US has urged North Korea to meet its commitments as soon as
possible, citing this matter was no longer a US one. Russia, China
and South Korea have urged patience. Japan is still pressing for
the abduction issue to be resolved.

On June 11, 2007 Russia agreed to transfer the unfrozen North
Korean funds from the Macao bank and transfer them to North
Korea.

On July 14, 2007, after receiving fuel aid from South Korea,
North Korea declares it has closed the nuclear facilities at
Yongbyon and says it is willing to dismantle all of its nuclear
program. On July 18, 2007 IAEA inspectors verify that North Korea
has closed its facilities.

The six parties expressed satisfaction with the constructive
efforts made by all parties to advance the Six-Party Talks process
and welcomed that productive bilateral consultations and
coordination were conducted to enhance their mutual trust and
improved relations with each other.

The parties restated their commitment to the Joint Statement of
19 September 2005 and the agreement of 13 February 2007 and
undertook to fulfill their respective obligations under those
agreements in line with the principle of "action for action".

North Korea confirmed its agreement to disclose all nuclear
programs and disable all facilities related to its nuclear
programs.

Agreement for the five working groups to meet before August to
discuss plans for the implementation of the general consensus.

Talks will resume in September to hear the report of the
working groups and work out a roadmap for implementing the general
consensus. After the end of the next phase of talks the six parties
will hold a ministerial meeting in Beijing as soon as possible to
confirm and promote the implementation of the September 19 Joint
Statement, the February 13 agreement and the general consensus, and
explore ways and means to enhance security cooperation in Northeast
Asia.

A deadline was not decided on during the talks until the
working groups have a chance to meet. This is likely because the
deadlines set in talks earlier in the year were not met.

North Korea warned of a "crisis" over Japan's refusal to fund
energy assistance. Japan says it will not share the costs of the
assistance until North Korea resolves the abductee issue.

Events taken place between 1st and 2nd phase of the 6th
round of talks

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun proposed forming a Korean
Economic Community to be discussed in new inter-Korean talks.

US President George Bush says he will work on a peace agreement
on the Korean Peninsula when North Korea completely disarms.

Israel reveals an IAF strike in Syria on September 6 was
targeting a Syrian nuclear facility built with assistance from
North Korea.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is replaced with Yasuo
Fukuda. Fukuda has pledge to lead improve ties with North
Korea.

Implementation of initial actions of February 13 2007 Agreement
confirmed

List of Second Phase Actions for Implementation of Joint
Statement issued 2 October 2007.

DPRK agreed to disable all nuclear facilities subject to
September 2005 Joint Statement and February 13 Agreement, including
the disablement of three facilities at Yongbyan by 31 December
2007: the 5 MW Experimental Reactor, the Reprocessing Plant, and
the Nuclear Fuel Rod Fabrication Facility.

The DPRK agreed to provide a complete and correct declaration
of all its nuclear programs in accordance with the February 13
agreement by 31 December 2007.

The DPRK and the United States will increase bilateral
exchanges and enhance mutual trust. The U.S. will fulfill its
commitments to the DPRK (regarding the processes of removing the
designation of the DPRK as a state sponsor of terrorism, and
that of terminating the application of the Trading with the Enemy
Act to the DPRK) in parallel with the DPRK's actions, as based on
consensus reached at the meetings of the Working Group on
Normalization of DPRK-U.S. Relations.

The DPRK and Japan will hold intensive consultations to make
sincere efforts to normalize their relations expeditiously in
accordance with the Pyongyang Declaration.

In accordance with the February 13 agreement, economic, energy
and humanitarian assistance up to the equivalent of one million
tons of HFO (inclusive of the 100,000
tons of HFO already delivered) will be provided to the DPRK.
Specific modalities will be finalized through discussion by the
Working Group on Economy and Energy Cooperation.

The Parties reiterated that the Six-Party Ministerial Meeting
will be held in Beijing at an appropriate time.

A final meeting was decided on before the end of 2007. However,
this was never realized because despite the DPRK issuing a report
of its inventory in November 2007 and thus claiming that since it
fulfilled its side of the bargain, it was waiting for its promised
shipment of aid, the US claimed the inventory list was definitely
incomplete and until the complete list was given by the DPRK, aid
would be suspended. There have been numerous US-DPRK bilateral
meetings held in Beijing and Geneva since the end of this phase of
this round of talks.

Yonhap News Agency, citing unnamed officials, claimed that with
the new ROK government led by Lee Myung-bak since the end of 2007,
the six-party talks' top negotiators will be replaced. AM Kim Sook
is to replace Chun Yung-woo as the top negotiator, and Hwang
Joon-kook is to replace Lim Sung-nam as the deputy.

Discontinuation of talks

On April 5, 2009, North Korea proceeded with its announced satellite launch, despite
international pressure not to do so. The pressure was due to
international belief that the "satellite" was in fact a test of
North Korea's Taepodong-2 ICBM. The launch was a
failure, and it landed in the Pacific Ocean. Despite the failure, U.S. President
Barack Obama responded that "violations
must be punished," ordered North Korea to be "punished."" South
Korea urged heavier sanctions against North Korea.

On April 13, 2009, the United Nations Security
Council agreed unanimously to a Presidential Statement that
condemned North Korea for the launch and stated the Council's
intention to expand sanctions on North Korea.

On April
14, 2009, North
Korea, responding angrily to the UN Security Council's
resolution, said that it "will never again take part in such [six
party] talks and will not be bound by any agreement reached at the
talks."North Korea expelled nuclear inspectors from
the country and also informed the International Atomic Energy
Agency that they would resume their nuclear weapons
program.